SIX TO WATCH: AMERICAN LEAGUE 

Let's just say it right now: Players looked smaller this spring. 

If one sport epitomizes the sense of hope and optimism that can lift a melancholy spirit, it is Baseball. 

 

The unpredictable antics on the field. 

There's a new ace. 

--INF Ramiro Pena entered the final weekend before the regular season with a shot at a roster spot but, more interestingly, there was talk that he could replace iconic SS Derek Jeter at the position as early as next season. 

After a spring training circus that featured a seemingly endless streak of headlines that had little to do with baseball and everything to do with Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees should be grateful to simply play ball. 

The fields were sloppy, the view was sweet. 

Now you can grow your own major league lawn with Yankees grass. 

To a generation of Canadian Baseball fans, Joe Carter's championship-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series was an epic moment in the sport's venerated lore. 

After a spring training circus that featured a seemingly endless streak of headlines that had little to do with baseball and everything to do with Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees should be grateful to simply play ball. 

There's a new ace. 

--SS Derek Jeter was selected as the Yankees' leadoff hitter, and he has said he won't do anything differently in that role. 

Sitting in new Yankee Stadium on the first day fans came to the $1.